ABOUT WALKING IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW-AND NOT BEING AFRAID

Open to all ages because death and grief has no age limit. Young people as well as older adults lose partners, parents, friends, and family members.

Welcoming to individuals from the Former Soviet Union, Israel, Intermarried families, and Jews-By-Choice. Many in our community are “born there and die here,” and differences in custom and manners can be confusing and frustrating, all the more so in days of grief.

Everyone has a place in the conversation, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Six Topics Offered in Six Locations in 2016: The Other Conversation (end of life wishes), The Final Mitzvot (advanced planning), From Dying to Burial (what Jews do), The Art of Comfort, Mourning and Grief (Kaddish and Shivah), and Jewish views of the soul, afterlife, and memory.

You may select any topic in any location in any order. Choose the topic you need. You may take any number of topics: one or all six.

To view all topics at all locations around the Bay Area, please click here

Cost:$10 per class

Co-sponsored by Lehrhaus Judaica, and the Aleph Society of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.

ABOUT EDNA STEWART, MPH, RN

Edna Stewart is a member of the Gamliel Institute and has taught two classes over the past year. She is also the coordinator of the multi-part Taste of Gamliel webinars. This year’s offering is: The World to Come: Do You Have Your Ticket?”

Edna is a Registered Nurse with 46 years of experience working in settings such as intensive care, pediatric oncology, nursing management and education, and senior housing and wellness. She has been an educator over 30 years both professionally and as a volunteer. She holds a Master’s Degree from Columbia University in Public Health Administration, with a focus on program and policy development.

Much of her current volunteer work, in addition to regular Chevra Kadisha activities, centers on education about Jewish practices around death and burial. A member of Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, CA she is the former chair of the adult education committee and current co-chair of the Chevra Kadisha, Edna holds popular “Death Cafes,” and a series of classes called “The Elephant in the Room.”